


Firsts

by throwntotheair (eloquentelegance)



Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-03
Updated: 2016-07-03
Packaged: 2018-07-19 21:53:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7378729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eloquentelegance/pseuds/throwntotheair
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jason decides to do something completely stupid. It must be a Tuesday.</p>
<p>(Jason finds a baby in the League of Assassins. Like an actual infant. Like what the hell.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Firsts

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Pick Up](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4076437) by [fishfingersandjellybabies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fishfingersandjellybabies/pseuds/fishfingersandjellybabies). 



> a contribution to fishfingerandjellybabies Dad!Jason AU

In retrospect, Jason really doesn’t have a clue what Talia was thinking, allowing a newly resurrected, emotionally unstable zombie near her infant son. But hell, what does he know about child care and proper parenting. It’s not like he’s got much experience with either. For all he knows, zombies are an acceptable part of a well-balanced childhood, and considering this is the al Ghuls he’s talking about, then he might not be too far off the mark. What a fucked up thought.

But inappropriate child rearing practices aside, Jason at least figured a baby crying is never a good sign. Imagine his surprise, wandering the dark halls of the League compound, masked ninjas slipping by on silent feet, the distant sounds of swords clashing and chorused shouts - then to hear a baby, of all the goddamned things.

He was still pretty brain dead at the time. A lot more awake and alert than before he was unceremoniously dunked into the Pit, sure. But he was still out of it. Really, it’s the sheer degree of cognitive dissonance, hearing a baby deep in a League of Assassin’s base, that woke him from his stupor. He recognized, if only a little, that there was something very wrong. And hey, maybe there’s a leftover reflex in him, from all the times he babysat neighborhood kids, to always answer when a kid is crying. Whatever the reason, Jason found himself in a room, tucked away in the most isolated corner of the base.

Jason remembers how easy, how automatic it was for him to pick up the baby, cradle it in his arms, and sway slowly back and forth. When everything else was proving a challenge to him - eating, sleeping, bathing - this was not. It was familiar and safe and right, the way nothing else had been for a long time, to hold a baby like this, to take care of someone so small in comparison. He remembers the baby - Damian, he later learns - slowly quiets, curious and fascinated by this stranger he’s never seen. He laid like that in Jason’s arms, perfectly content to study the new face. He hadn’t been hungry or sleepy or in need of changing. He was just lonely and asking for attention. Something Jason was more than capable of giving.

And that’s just what it was, the sense of accomplishment that stirred in the alternating maelstrom of rage and apathy. It was… nice. It kept him coming back to Damian’s room, turned him into one of the baby’s caretakers, because for once, there was something good in him again - something that wasn’t clouded by fury and tainted by his death at Joker’s hand. It was a lifeline Jason clung to desperately. That even as fucked up as he was or as fucked up as his life had become, this baby would still look to him for uncomplicated company. This baby would start to smile whenever he came around. This baby would still want him when everything and everyone else was gone.

What happens after, what happens next, when Jason flees the compound with an infant in his arms, it was only the inevitable result. He knows he’s got no damn business running away with someone else’s kid. What does he know about child care and proper parenting? But he couldn’t just let the League brainwash a baby. He’ll say so to anyone asking. He was saving Damian. He owed the kid at least that much, for saving him first.


End file.
